Election season is a time for leaders and community members to come together to discuss the strengths and challenges of our towns and cities. It is also a time for us to openly debate our visions for our communities and think about what is possible.

Right now, many in the creative community are experiencing the impacts of violence, racism, and injustice amid the catastrophic disruptions to our creative ecosystem by COVID-19. This has left many of us feeling angry, sad, exhausted, and overwhelmed. We know that many members of the arts and culture community are struggling to reimagine the future while also trying to figure out when to reopen, restart, and begin to recover.

As members of the creative community, we have reached a moment where going back to normal is not enough. We must have radical hope that a more just, inclusive, and representative democracy is possible, and play our role in making it possible.

The arts and culture sector needs to use the current social and economic crisis, brought on by COVID-19 and racial injustice, as a catalyst for change and take action to build a more equitable, just future. 

That's why we're relaunching Create the Vote 2020—MASSCreative’s nonpartisan, public education campaign—with a deeper focus on increasing civic engagement and strengthening our democracy. 

Create the Vote 2020 Goals:

• Increase civic engagement and strengthen democracy with: 
  • Staff, board members, and patrons of Massachusetts arts & culture organizations
  • Underrepresented communities including Black, Indigenous and People of Color; young people, including queer and trans youth; working-class people and families; and new citizens.
• Increase voter participation in the 2020 elections through nonpartisan: 
  • Voter education
  • Voter registration
  • Voter turnout
• Increase representative democracy by increasing participation in the 2020 Census.
• Position the creative community as a leader in increasing civic engagement and strengthening our democracy.

Let’s #CreateTheVote,

Create the Vote 2020 Steering Committee

The Create the Vote Steering Committee collaborates with MASSCreative staff to guide campaign strategy, develop materials, educate the public, and lead by example by engaging their networks in voter education, voter registration, and voter turnout. 

If you'd like to help us expand the Create the Vote Steering Committee to better represent the diversity of the creative sector throughout the Commonwealth, please reach out to Executive Director Emily Ruddock at [email protected] and Program Fellow Sophia Balsamo [email protected].